Scherzer, an alternate player representative for the players' union, made it perfectly clear that he wants baseball to be as
clean as possible and said he hopes there will be stiffer penalties for
those who violate the rules in the future.

"As players as a whole, we’re tired of cheating," he said. "We’re tired of guys who
blatantly try to break the system. That’s something that we have to
find a way to shore up so this doesn’t happen again, because the more
days we have like this, the worse it is for our game and the worse it is
for our fans. It only drives fans away.

"So as players, we have to find a
way so the reward isn’t there anymore and that we can always talk about
baseball and not talk about PEDs and other things like this."

Here are some paraphrased questions along with answers from Scherzer on the situation.

On Peralta taking ownership:"Yeah, I saw Jhonny’s statement. He took ownership of what happened. He showed complete ownership, and that’s something that I think is good for the game."

More on ownership:"I think everybody will take ownership of what’s happened. It’s a disappointing day when we have to talk about PEDs and baseball and the fans of baseball have to question who is doing what in this game and have to question if players are still taking PEDs and we still have to answer these questions. It’s unfair to all of us, but at the end of the day, it’s reality. Hopefully, we can further our program to make it stricter so we don’t have these days anymore so we can continue to have a clean game."

Would Scherzer welcome Peralta back as a teammate?"You have mixed emotions. You’re disappointed with what he did, but you also respect that he’s taken ownership. This will be a whole process that goes forward. Dave (Dombrowski) addressed, that’s a decision that will happen at a later time and it will be more appropriate to address then."

Would bringing him back send a message of tolerance of PEDs?"I think that’s more up to the system. I don’t know if that’s a personal club’s responsibility. I think that’s up to the system and rules and punishments in place that create a fairer playing field for the Major League Baseball. That’s the most important direction, instead of worrying if we’re going to welcome Jhonny (back)."

Would he have had mixed emotions if Peralta had appealed and kept playing?"You can’t play the what if game. Guess what, he stepped up. He owned up to it and he accepted the punishment. That’s just the facts. You can’t play what ifs. This is the reality of it, and he’s doing what he can to get back on the field and earn the trust of everybody. That’s what I think, in the clubhouse, that’s what we will respect."

What does he think of the Alex Rodriguez situation?"You know, I’ve already made comments toward other players. I don’t have a vendetta to rat out everybody else. That’s not really my goal."

But what about his thoughts on the fact that Rodriguez is still playing?"Those are the rules. My focus now, honestly, my focus now is to work with the players, work with the union, work with everybody involved to find a fairer system that correctly punishes players to find a way that closes some of these loopholes so that players don’t feel the need to cheat."

Has it been a distraction?"For us, it really hasn’t been a distraction. When we get in between the lines, it’s all about the game. This is stuff we have to deal with with the media. That’s part of being a Major League Baseball player, handling the media when you have to handle these situations. To be able to correctly speak your mind. It’s more of a challenge handling you guys and handling the situation than it is on the field."

What are his first impressions of Jose Iglesias?"He’s shown how good he is in just a few games. (Scherzer laughs.) I think he’s going to be able to play shortstop just fine for us. He looks like very talented and very talented defensively. I think that’s going to be something that’s very positive for our ballclub." Jhonny probably has a bigger bat. We’re just thinking we’re getting a quality player in Iglesias. Facing him in with Boston, seeing what he did, I think he’s going to be a quality player for us and a quality teammate."

On penalties:"We all thought the 50-game, 100-game suspensions would be a deterrent, and it has been. I think we have seen a decline in PED users. There’s less people violating the system. As players as a whole, we still feel like there are people that are going to test the system and can reap benefits by cheating. As players as a whole, we want to close some of those rewards. This offseason is going to be very telling working with the union on what we can do to increase punishments so the punishment fits the crime. I know right now the union and MLB are negotiating, and the worst thing to do is negotiate through the media."

Hoping for stiffer penalties?"I hope. I really hope. I really hope there’s stiffer penalties. Every player in here wants stiffer penalties. I think the union is on board about that. I think MLB is on board about that. I think that’s something that would be a positive thing for the game."